Vitamin fortification of foodstuffs is a common practice in the food industry. Ready-to-Eat (RTE) cereal manufacturers are especially concerned with vitamin fortification of their products. See, "Breakfast Cereals And How They are Made", edit by R. B. Fast and E. F. Caldwell, Chapter 7, Pages 197-209 and Chapter 10, Pages 275-277 which discuss the importance of vitamin fortification and spraying vitamins as a method of vitamin fortification. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,558,323 to Hoffmann-LaRoche (US '323) discloses a vitamin composition suitable for fortifying fluid whole milk and spray dried powdered skim milk. Said composition comprises: (a) 47 to 92% of a reacted (i.e. modified) gelatin made by reacting gelatin, ascorbic acid, and sorbitol, (b) 5 to 15% of an edible saturated oil such as coconut oil, and (c) 5 to 50% of a fat soluble vitamin. US '323 discloses that the gelatin used to form the reacted (i.e. modified) gelatin is Type A or B. The reacted gelatin product is not a true gelatin, it is a polypeptide material having essentially zero bloom and a molecular weight of 1200 to 2500 and a viscosity of 5 to 10 millipoises.
Vitamin fortification is also accomplished by incorporating the vitamin into the cereal. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,870 (General Mills) states that topical vitamin application often results in substantial chemical and physical loss of vitamins and also causes off flavors. US '870 describes a method for incorporating beta carotene into a cooked cereal mass prior to piece formation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,063 (Kellogg) discloses incorporating beta carotene into cereal products in the form of water insoluble beadlets. The beta carotene is encapsulated in gelatin to form the beadlets. Said beadlet is then added to bulk cereal starting material during the cooking process or when the process is complete.
Clearly there is a need in the art for a vitamin composition that can be sprayed onto foodstuffs at room temperature, which does not have the stability and taste problems associated with the prior art. Applicants have surprisingly discovered a fat soluble vitamin emulsion that is stable and free of taste problems.